Pepper's Day Off
by ee22
Summary: Pepper doesn't usually have days off from work, but after a run in with Agent Romanov she might be willing to take off more in the future.


Today was the first full day off Pepper had in months. Ever since Bruce Banner decided to stay in town, Tony was less involved in the company than usual...it was hard to blame him though, after what happened. Tony refused to talk about it, they'd just end up watching a movie or something else trivial. When Pepper originally learned about the success of the Avengers, Tony was no where to be found. She wanted to celebrate and be happy, but wound up getting dangerously intoxicated instead. Pepper somewhat recalled walking up to Natasha Romanoff, winding a hand into her red hair, and kissing her. What was most surprising is that the agent kissed back. Pepper only seemed to kiss women when she was drunk, however rare that was. She blamed it on nerves and alcohol, but could not deny how _right_ it felt kissing Natasha.

After that night, she immersed herself in work, hoping time would help her forget the cliche butterflies. There was only so much to be done and Pepper had finally caught up with paperwork and public events, so she took a vacation day. Tony and Bruce would be in the labs, Steve was acclimating to society, Clint was on a mission, Natasha was training, and Thor was back on Asgard. She decided to walk around Stark Tower, never having much time to explore it before.

Apart from Tony's lavish living areas, the Tower has medical and technical labs, an armory, training room, gym, and the lower levels are occupied with Stark's organizations and subsidiaries. The top five floors were, at first, a new "home" _only_ for Tony, but since the incident with Loki, they were turned into headquarters and housing for the Avengers.

Pepper wandered in and out of the top floors, but stayed away from the labs, she knew her presence would go unnoticed with Doctor Banner around. She eventually got to the training area, a massive room specialized to simulate a variety of situations that the Avengers might eventually have to face. Tony designed it specifically for Clint, Natasha, and Steve, although the Captain had a rough time getting used to the system. As Pepper expected, Natasha was in the middle of fighting a simulator dummy, she quickly walked by, hoping to go unobserved... but Agent Romanoff rarely missed anything. Pepper fought ever urge to stay and watch, because the way Natasha moved was practically an art form.

She meandered back to Tony's housing section, she sometimes crashed here, but she mostly felt like a third wheel with the science dream team.

"Hello, ma'am." JARVIS greeted, "Tony is currently in the lab with Doctor Banner. Would you like me to tell him you're here?"

Pepper sighed, "No, I'm not here on business."

"Very well, ma'am."

Pepper rubbed her eyes and headed for the shower, relaxing was not as easy as it seemed. After the nearly two hour shower, Pepper realized she hadn't brought a change of clothing. She took a deep breath and squeezed the arch of her nose, she _was_ losing it. The bathroom cabinets were void of anything but a towel and a skimpy bath robe. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, this, no doubt, was for one of Tony's ex-lovers.

She put on the satin robe that barely draped mid thigh and sauntered back into the lounge. Ruffling her hair with the towel, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Natasha standing in the lounge. Natasha was already staring and quirked an eye brow, the redhead's eyes inspecting every inch of Pepper's body.

"Expecting someone?" Natasha practically purred.

"Uh...No- I just forgot a change of clothes...Tony's working, did you need something?"

"I saw you come by the training area, thought you wanted to talk." Natasha strode over to Pepper's side.

The strawberry blonde shifted uncomfortably and tried pulling the robe down further, to no avail. Natasha smirked, "Do I _still_ make you nervous, Miss Potts?"

"What? No, it's just, you know- after what happened..." Pepper mumbled.

Pepper tried to maneuver around her, blushing deeper when her thigh grazed against Natasha's.

The agent grabbed Pepper's arm and pulled her back.

"_Virginia_," Natasha almost sounded exasperated, "I get it, you were drunk, can we just act like adults?"

"You mean pretend it never happened?"

The agent stiffened, "Is that what you consider most appropriate?"

Pepper flushed, "No, I just don't know what else to do?"

"Look, Miss Potts, I apologize for making you uncomfortable. It won't happen again."

Pepper couldn't help herself, " Natasha, I'm avoiding you because I can't stop thinking about kissing you and-"

Natasha put her hands on the sides of Pepper's face and pulled her into a kiss- Pepper was right, it was _so_ much better sober. The first kiss was delicate, Natasha didn't want to scare her away.

They broke apart, and Natasha momentarily thought it was over, but Pepper pulled her closer and began kissing her again. They stumbled into the bedroom, and Pepper unzipped the agent's skin tight suit, simultaneously nibbling at her neck. The redhead pushed Pepper onto the bed and crawled on top of her, caressing every inch of her body. She had begun to untie the bath robe when Natasha heard something outside of the door.

Before Pepper was aware anything was amiss, Tony and Bruce came bursting through the door. Bruce was shirtless and Tony was in the process of taking off the doctor's belt.

Neither party knew what to do, and awkward silence ensued. Pepper and Bruce looked mortified, both desperately trying to cover themselves back up.

"Wow, Pep. Didn't know you had it in ya..." Tony joked, as inappropriate as usual.

"Uh. I think I'll see myself out." Doctor Banner muttered as he bolted out the door.

"Maybe next time let me know when you'll be getting it on in _my _bedroom?" Tony smirked and closed the door, chasing after Bruce.

Pepper stared at the ground, regardless of how she acted, she _was_ still nervous around Natasha.

"How about we finish this when we know we won't be interrupted?" the agent offered, zipping up her uniform. Pepper brushed her damp hair behind her ears, "I think that would be best..."

Natasha lifted up Pepper's chin and gave her a quick kiss, "You know where to find me."

And just like that, the agent was gone.

Pepper's phone chimed, it was a text from Tony; she took a deep breath and unlocked it "_Next time we have a movie night we're watching The Spy Who Shagged Me."_

She couldn't help but laugh.


End file.
